Burger King

• Burger King is the number 2 hamburger chain in the world, second only to McDonalds.

• Burger King has been criticized for failing to enforce safety and workers' rights principles at its restaurants and within its supply chain.

• The company, along with other industry leaders, has been charged with failing to acknowledge carcinogenic ingredients in its food.

• Support local food options with better quality and fewer risks with Go Green.

-- Profile Updated 01/31/2011

About Burger King

Burger King is the number 2 hamburger chain, with over 11,100 restaurants across the United States and 65 other countries. Over 90% of Burger King's fast food restaurants are owned by franchisees. In fiscal 2006 Burger King reported sales of $2.05 billion and employed 37,000 people.

Campaigns

Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Thanks to years of pressure from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers…

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Thanks to years of pressure from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Burger King has finally agreed to grant raises to tomato pickers and improve their working conditions. Burger King agreed to a 1.5 cent raise per pound of tomatos picked, and while that might not seem like very much, it is a 71 percent increase over what they used to make.

A 20 year old Burger King employee in Detroit punched a 67 year old man, believed to be homeless, who consequently died on Decembe…

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A 20 year old Burger King employee in Detroit punched a 67 year old man, believed to be homeless, who consequently died on December 10, 2010. The victim, Paul Cannon, was allegedly causing a disturbance in the restaurant and tried to hit the worker, who hit back; the autopsy shows Cannon died from blunt force trauma to the head so the worker may be charged with homicide.

In August 2005 California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed suit against nine producers of potato chips and french fries concern…

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In August 2005 California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed suit against nine producers of potato chips and french fries concerning toxic contents in their popular foods. Lockyer is seeking a court order requiring the companies to warn consumers that some of their food products are made with acrylamide, a chemical identified by the state as a human carcinogen. Plaintiffs in the case include McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Frito Lay, H.J. Heinz, Proctor & Gamble and Wendy's. In April 2007, KFC agreed to display the warning and pay $341,000 in civil penalties. Burger King is still in negotations with the Attorney General.

In March 2005 Burger King agreed to pay civil penalties of $170,000, plus $35,000 in costs, to settle a lawsuit over an abandoned …

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In March 2005 Burger King agreed to pay civil penalties of $170,000, plus $35,000 in costs, to settle a lawsuit over an abandoned store in Sacramento County California. The suit alleged that the fast-food company illegally maintained the site of an abandoned drive-in and allowed it to become a blighted property. According to the suit Burger King destroyed the building in 2004 but left the site open and accessible and filled with solid waste and hazardous materials.

In February 2005 Burger King agreed to pay part of a $4 million settlement in a case where a former employee was burned severely …

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In February 2005 Burger King agreed to pay part of a $4 million settlement in a case where a former employee was burned severely when a grease filter exploded at a Burger King restaurant in West Seneca, NY. The woman, who now is 24, suffered burns, five surgeries and
permanent scars after a grease machine exploded in 1997, spraying her with 350 degree oil
According to her attorney the grease filter was defective, and the restaurant lacked proper training and operating procedures for the device, which exploded after an aerosol canister fell into the machine.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit on behalf of about 511 current and former workers at about half of…

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit on behalf of about 511 current and former workers at about half of the 351 Burger Kings run by franchisee Carrols Corp. This is the biggest sexual harassment suit ever filed by the agency. Most of the alleged victims are girls or women. According to the suit female employees tell of managers or co-workers hugging and kissing them or fondling their breasts or buttocks. Some supervisors made suggestive or vulgar comments to female workers; others pressured them to have sex or go out on dates, according to court records. At least one co-worker allegedly exposed himself to a female employee. Sometimes, Carrols' management fired or suspended offenders. In other cases, victims' complaints to managers resulted in little or nothing being done, according to court records. A federal judge ruled against plaintiffs in the case, however the EEOC issued a statement saying it felt the court was incorrect in its decision.

In February 2005 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Burger King on behalf of a 16 year-old…

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In February 2005 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Burger King on behalf of a 16 year-old former employee who claimed she was fired after refusing the store manager's repeated requests for sex. According to the lawsuit, the teenager started working at a Milwaukee Burger King in January 2003 and refused the store manager's requests for sex. In September 2003, she was fired after making plans to complain about the harassment to some of the company's managers who were scheduled to visit the restaurant, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks a court order reinstating Merriweather to her job, back pay
and compensatory and punitive damages up to $300,000, said Jean Kamp, an EEOC
attorney.

The manager who fired Merriweather is in his mid-30s and still works at the
restaurant, Kamp said.

According to Burger King’s website, PETA ranked Burger King as the 5th most improved national fast food chain.…

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According to Burger King’s website, PETA ranked Burger King as the 5th most improved national fast food chain. In addition, Burger King claims to buy 32,0000 tons of recycled paper annually as all of its napkins in the US are made from 100% recycled content. Burger King’s kids meal bags in the US and Canada are also completely made of recycled materials and feature information on recycling and healthy lifestyle choices, despite the calorie and sodium-laden meal inside.

Burger King pledged in September 2010 that it will no longer buy palm oil from Sinar Mas or its subsidiaries because SMART, one of…

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Burger King pledged in September 2010 that it will no longer buy palm oil from Sinar Mas or its subsidiaries because SMART, one of the company’s subsidiaries, has destroyed rainforests and carbon-dense peatlands in Borneo and Sumatra. Greenpeace claims that Sinar Mas is destroying the rainforest, endangering orangutans and reducing carbon dioxide sinks. Others that have stopped buying from Sinar Mas, one of the biggest producers of palm oil, or other suppliers associated with deforestation include Unilever, Nestle, Cadbury and Kraft.

In June 2010, Burger King unveiled a new energy-efficient restaurant in Germany that uses renewable energy (solar panels and a win…

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In June 2010, Burger King unveiled a new energy-efficient restaurant in Germany that uses renewable energy (solar panels and a wind turbine) to power one-third of the restaurant, reducing energy costs by 45% and C02 emissions by more than 1,200 metric tons annually. The restaurant also saves energy with its heat recovery ventilation system, implementing LED bulbs and a system that captures heat loss to generate hot water. Solar powered electric vehicle charging stations for hybrid cars is available in addition to a rainwater reclamation system. The restaurant also includes the Duke Flexible Batch Broiler which reduces electricity consumption by 52 percent and costs by 90 percent; this broiler has been installed in all Burger King restaurants in North America and the international rollout is expected to be finished in 2012. McDonald’s, Burger King’s biggest competitor, opened up a pilot “green” restaurant in Chicago, Illinois in 2009 that is estimated to use 25 percent less energy than a traditional restaurant; additional “green” restaurants that use renewable energy can be found in Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Burger King scored a zero out of 100 in "The Climate Counts Company Scorecard Report." The report judged companies on their commi…

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Burger King scored a zero out of 100 in "The Climate Counts Company Scorecard Report." The report judged companies on their commitment to reversing climate change. The creation, manufacturing, and transportation of goods greatly contribute to pollution.

On June 28, 2001, PETA called off its “Murder King” campaign which included over 800 protest rallies spread over five months to pr…

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On June 28, 2001, PETA called off its “Murder King” campaign which included over 800 protest rallies spread over five months to prompt Burger King, the world’s second-largest fast-food chain, to improve the standards of its meat and egg suppliers. PETA called off the campaign when the company agreed to conduct both announced and unannounced inspections of its slaughterhouses and take action when the facilities fail, establish animal-handling guidelines, confine no more than five hens to each battery cage, require the hens to be able to stand fully upright, require the presence of two water drinkers per cage, stop purchasing from suppliers that “force-molt” hens (ie. starving the hens to force them to lay more eggs), begin purchasing pork from farms that do not confine its sows to stalls, and more.

Burger King has also petitioned the USDA to enforce the Humane Slaughter Act. PETA has continued to discuss with Burger King and in March 2007, the company announced a groundbreaking new plan that will lead the fast-food industry in animal welfare. Burger King has committed to buying a set amount of pig flesh from suppliers that do not use gestation crates and to double that amount by the end of 2007; begin purchasing a set quantity of eggs laid by hens not confined to battery cages and double that quantity by the end of 2007; tell its egg suppliers that the company will give purchasing preference to suppliers that do not use battery cages; and tell its chicken flesh suppliers that it will give preference to suppliers that use or switch to “controlled-atmosphere killing,” the least cruel method of slaughter. Burger King has received applause from PETA for its improvements and dedication.

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Mirabile Investment Corporation (MIC), the Memphis-based franchisee that owns more than 40 Burger Kings in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, has included “Global Warming is Baloney” in several of its restaurants’ road signs. A local newspaper reporter in Memphis, Tennessee noticed the signs at two different Burger King restaurants in early June 2010 and immediately contacted the corporation to establish if the message was representing the company’s official viewpoint; the headquarters reported it was not and that it has order MIC to take the signs down. John McNelis, MIC’s marketing president, took a defiant stance to the order, rebutting that “the management team can put the message up there if they want to” and referencing the right to freedom of speech.